January-February 2024 24-day trip

[jd12]

Hi everyone!

We are planning a big trip to Florida next year and would like your input.

For now, our plan looks like this:
- 5 days at WDW in Deluxe Resort (probably Beach Club). No parks except for maybe After Hours at Magic and Hollywood Studios.
- 5 days at Universal. First visit there.
- 14 days back at WDW (probably Pop Century). About 10 days in the parks.

Any suggestions? Would you do it in that order?

Thanks

JD

 

[the_rich]

The only thing I would change is maybe put the deluxe stay last. Have it as a relaxing end to the vacation.

 

[JIMINYCR]

It’s great that you have all that time. You certainly will have the luxury of taking it easy and will be able to get everything done with repeat rides. What are you planning on the non park days? There are a lot of things to do off property that are worth the time and money.
I might suggest mixing the Uni days in between the WDW days just to give you a mixture of each instead of a straight run of same theme park days. Mixing it up gives variety. Uni doesn’t necessarily need 5 days but again it gives you time to go slow. Have a great time. Wish I could have that much time away!!!

 

[jimbojones]

The only thing I would change is maybe put the deluxe stay last. Have it as a relaxing end to the vacation.

I second this advice. Staying at a moderate or value after staying in a deluxe will feel like a real downgrade, I say this from experience. Going from a value to a deluxe reinvigorates a trip.

Your budget must be astronomical to be planning such a long trip. But don't forget it is easy to spend $100 a day per person on food on top of your hotel and ticket budget, especially if you drink. I assume with that amount of hotel time drinking at the pool is part of the plan so that could double that $100 pretty easily. I say this because I always forget about the high cost of food and end up over budget by the end of a trip.

 

[mpaulam]

Yep...what they said. Move your Deluxe stay to the end of your trip. Relax and enjoy all the amenities
We're also planning a trip in that general time frame, but staying at Fort Wilderness. 3 weeks with 10 days in the parks.

 

[jd12]

Thank you for your replies!

The main reason we are planning the Deluxe stay first is that the Skyliner (we like it a lot for our Pop stays) probably will be in annual maintenance in those weeks.

We really feel privileged to have both time and money for that big trip but worked and planned accordingly. Budget wise, we have a fairly good idea how much we spend on food when we are at Disney and luckily don't drink much. We usually fly but will drive down for this special trip. The car will give us additional options to visit around and maybe save a little on food, but we won't count on saving that much.

We are such big fans of the parks that our main problem will be to plan enough relax time outside of it all. On our usual trips, we like being in the parks early but also late with lengthy mid-day breaks (the Skyliner is great to accomplish that). That approach won't be sustainable for this longer trip.

Can't wait for 2024 to get around!

 

[mpaulam]

Have a great time!